Changing faces: architectural façades collection

Clever devices for comparing designs

Inspired by the We Live in the Office exhibition which takes us on an architectural journey as told through the history of the façade we thought it would be fun to put together a gallery of architectural drawings all of which feature moveable flaps, an ingenious graphic device by which the reader can view alternative designs on one sheet.

One of the major proponents of this device was the landscape architect Humphry Repton. Repton would produce a Red Book, so called because of their red Morocco leather bindings, for the client of each of his proposed landscape schemes. These bound volumes of essays and watercolours served as persuasive marketing tools for his work and included both 'before' and 'after' views of the development sites utilising overlaid paper flaps to indicate Repton's suggested improvements. One such example held by the RIBA is the Langley Park Red Book for Sir Peter Burrell in 1790 for his Beckenham seat.

One of Repton’s sons, the architect George Stanley Repton, also employed this device to good effect for example at Kitley House showing 'before' and 'after' views from all four points of the compass for the MP for Devonshire, Edmund Pollexfen Bastard.

Design for the remodelling of Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, for the Marquess of Anglesey: elevation of lodges and entrance with flier showing portcullis-like effect in the large central arch and the two smaller side entrancesRIBA66500

Designs for a terrace of semi-detached houses (later numbers 114-135) Princes Place, Kennington Park Road, London: elevation of the end block of a terrace with flap showing an alternative version of the central four baysRIBA67231

Designs for alterations to the premises including warehouses for James Morrison & Co, 103-107 Fore Street, City of London: plan of the facade and sketch of proposed shop fronts with flap showing existing upper floorsRIBA68499

Designs for alterations to the premises including warehouses for James Morrison & Co, 103-107 Fore Street, City of London: plan of the facade and sketch of proposed shop fronts with flap suggesting refacing upper floors of 106-107 to match those of 104RIBA68498

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